I pondered about the man in front of me. I didn’t know his abilities and couldn’t detect any changes in the setting. Was it because he was too strong? Or was it because he wasn’t in the original story? Regardless of his gift, I had no reason to fear him inside the tower. I couldn’t guarantee my victory, but I felt like I wouldn’t lose against anyone.

“I guess you’re right.”

The man retorted. His expression constantly changed from a glare filled with killing intent to a serpent-like smile.

“I shouldn’t do something if I’m going to feel sorry.”

Suddenly, his body flickered. It happened instantly, but I noticed his body had transformed into magic power.

“Yeah, it was my fault,” the man murmured and laughed. The corners of his mouth practically hung on his ears. I raised my gun as he transformed into a current of magic power and flew back.

“What…”

I wasn’t mistaken. He definitely transformed into magic power. However, I could trace his movements. Then I pulled the trigger. Two bullets passed through his body. On the third bullet, I infused stigma’s magic power along with an anti-magic attribute.

“Uup!”

The bullet struck his shoulder and he materialized before falling to the ground.

“That hurt.”

He sat upright and rubbed his wounded shoulder. I remained calm and transformed the Desert Eagle into an assault rifle as I approached him with more anti-magic bullets.

[The administrator of the second floor, Luke, is watching you.]

However, I could feel the administrator’s gaze on me. I slightly flinched, but still pointed my gun at the man.

“It’s not easy having my power restricted.”

The man got up and sighed, “Sigh, fine. I’ll admit it. You’re the strongest person in here. My shoulder hurts so much, I can barely move.”

I could feel the sincerity in his words.

“I should have brought a gun too. My weapon is so heavy I can’t even hold it yet.”

The man grumbled and slowly walked away. Meanwhile, I thought about the system alert. It said Luke was only watching, so I judged it would be fine to fire another bullet. The man joined up with his companion, the woman who threw the dagger at me. She seemed to be heavily wounded and clutched her chest as she gasped for breath.

“Lacors…”

The man murmured an ancient language as symbols appeared on the ground below him.

“…?”

“Interesting, isn’t it? It’s the skill I chose with my black ticket.”

“Mass teleport?”

“You know about it?” The man grinned.

“You took the worst one.” I coldly shot back and aimed.

“Really? It sounded pretty useful to me.”

I carefully infused stigma’s magic power into the bullet to kill him before he left. KWANG! I fired, but pillars of dirt shot up from the ground to form a shield. Tudududu— My anti-magic bullet easily tore through the mixture of magic power and dirt, but all the layers managed to halt the bullet’s momentum.

— Kuk!

The man blocked it with his body.

— Huu… It’s been a while since I’ve felt this much pain.

His exhausted voice rang out from the other side of the shields. A spiraling current of magic power signaled the activation of mass teleport.

[Warning! Luke, the administrator of the 2nd floor, is watching you carefully!]

A warning popped up. It seemed I fought too close to the administrator. I felt confident I could’ve killed him at least once if we fought farther away. I should take this into account when I kill Jin Sahyuk.

I put my gun down. Then I put on airs and spoke generously, “Alright, you’re free to go. I’ll let you live this one time.”

— Hm?

I heard a flustered voice and simply retorted, “I’m letting you go since I’m quite touched that you stopped to pick up your friend.”

The man didn’t reply. I wanted to hide my weakness and prevent him from finding out that I couldn’t freely use anti-magic bullets in front of an administrator.

— Thanks.

I didn’t know whether he bought it or not, but that’s what he said.

— Then I’ll let you live once too in the future. My name is Bell. Remember it.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Shooong— Two clumps of magic power shot into the air as I watched them fly away.

“Sigh.”

I didn’t expect Jin Sahyuk to not be here, but this worked to my advantage. If she entered the tower 2 months later, that meant I would have more time to display an overwhelming difference in power.

“For now…” I peered in the direction my companions took.

Kuoooo—

A large gorilla roared in the distance.

— Kuhahaha!

Cheok Jungyeong fought the gorilla and seemed even more like a gorilla himself.

— Come, I’ll fight you!

They began to wrestle, but he naturally couldn’t surpass it in pure strength inside the tower. Their hands interlocked and the gorilla pushed him back. Then…

Cheok Jungyeong roared like a beast and his muscles bulked up. The tide of battle suddenly turned as he strangled the gorilla’s neck. Cheok Jungyeong strangled it to death despite its fierce struggle.

— Little imp, don’t get so eager…

With those words, Cheok Jungyeong passed out on the ground. Jain looked down at him and shook her head.

— Do you think he knows this place isn’t a dueling arena, Boss?

I chuckled at Jain’s question and ran towards them. I wasn’t sure if they purposely walked slower for me or if the gorilla had delayed them, but I quickly caught up.

“I’m back.”

“Oh? That was quick.” Boss spotted me first.

“Hajin, what were you doing?” Jain spoke like we were close friends and Boss gave her an odd look.

“…”

I looked around our surroundings without replying. The 2nd floor exploration had only just begun, so many other players wandered around in a 1-2 km radius. I spotted Chae Nayun among them with Essence of the Strait members and purposely looked away.

“Hajin?” Boss asked again.

“Yes? Oh, it’s nothing. Have you run into anyone?”

“No, I don’t think other players want to cooperate with strangers,” Jain replied. Most traveled with their guild members.

“Mmm… Let’s sit for now.”

“Sit?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Shouldn’t we walk?” I pointed at the gorilla Cheok Jungyeong hunted.

“I want to dismantle this first. Wait for a bit.”

“Do you need to?”

“Its leather is important and we also need food. We’ll be staying here for a long time.”

“Long time? Nah.”

Cheok Jungyeong, who passed out a moment ago, suddenly shot up. He recovered at a frightening speed.

“Didn’t that white-haired guy say 50 people could go on each elevator? He said there are 10 of them… so 2 days should be enough. Can’t you do multiplication and subtraction?”

“No, it’s not a matter of math.”

It had more to do with efficiency, ethics, selfishness, and altruism. Each elevator could fit 50 people. However, that was the maximum. The elevator didn’t need to be full.

“The administrator said 50 people at most.”

“Yeah, so if 50 people get on each one…”

“Use your brain, you dimwit.” Jain stepped in and made my job easier.

“You don’t need all 50 people to get the elevator going. That means even a single person can leave with it.”

“Exactly.”

What Cheok Jungyeong said was only the best-case scenario. Considering the innate greed and selfishness of humans, probably only 20 or so people would go up each day. In other words, we could be stuck here for over 100 days.

“Hm, I see… but doesn’t that mean we should try to find an elevator as quickly as possible?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine if we’re a little late.”

The 3rd floor was a terrible place. I needed at least 3-4 days of preparation before going up.

“Argh, fuck. Then what do you want us to do?”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t explain in detail.

“Let’s take things slow rather than rushing.”

I sat near the gorilla and began to dismantle it. I skinned it with a knife, cut out its flesh, and pulled out its teeth. I had grown accustomed to this while dismantling fish during the second tutorial. I found it hard at first, but it became easier after I pretended everything was clay. Of course, a huge gorilla was still more disgusting than a fish.

[Lv.1 System can use sanity defense mode.]

The system messaged me as I dismantled the gorilla.

“Ah, thank you for the suggestion, but I can handle this.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you talking to yourself?” Boss and Jain gave me a strange look.

“Oh right, don’t yell or get angry at the system messages you see.”

“Why?” Jain tilted her head in bewilderment.

“Well, we should be grateful to it if you think about it. It’s helping us climb without receiving any compensation.”

“…”

When I said that, Jain and Cheok Jungyeong gave me strange looks and took a step back. They treated me as though I had gone mad. Only Boss fervently nodded. Soon, I finished dismantling the jungle gorilla.

[You have acquired the technique, Lv.1 Dismantling.] — You may now instantly dismantle low level monsters.

[Lv.2 Jungle Gorilla’s Leather] [Jungle Gorilla’s Meat] [Lv.2 Jungle Gorilla’s Teeth]

I stored everything in my inventory and stood up.

“Let’s get going now.”

***

Three hours later, Rachel and 6 other Royal Court guild members walked through a fierce snowstorm.

“Vice leader! The snowstorm is too harsh!”

“How did a jungle suddenly change into Antarctica? Auu, I’m freezing.”

Rachel’s Royal Court guild chose the northwest jungle. However, a large snowfield suddenly appeared as they toiled through it.

“Let’s stop and rest!”

Rachel shouted. Her companions stopped and huddled together. They didn’t need to build an igloo as Rachel faced the blizzard and took a deep breath. Then 2 elementals that only she could see formed a circular barrier around them.

“Huu… There’s just no end to this. We don’t know where the elevators are and what’s in this place.”

A guild member spoke inside the warmth of Rachel’s barrier.

“Vice leader, I think we should split into 2 teams. We can still use the tower’s messenger.”

A system window suddenly popped up as various members brought up different ideas.

[The first elevator has departed with 9 people.]

“Hah?”

Everyone yelled in shock. Nine people? Fifty could have taken it, but only 9 had departed.

“Nine? Dammit!”

“These fools blinded by greed!”

“Let’s split up.” Rachel immediately decided after seeing this message.

“We’ll split into the teams discussed before and locate an elevator as quickly as possible. The first one to find an elevator can send everyone else the coordinates.”

With that, Rachel took off the 3000 TP gargoyle leather armor and handed it to the second team’s captain, Davin.

“Um, vice leader, what’s this?”

“Wear it, Davin. My team can deal with the cold with my elementals, but that’s not the case for you. This armor has a temperature control function, so you can rotate it amongst yourselves if needed.”

“Yes, thank you.” Davin accepted the armor with a touched expression.

“Now let’s go. We need to hurry!”

The 7 Royal Court guild members split into 2 teams.

“Don’t forget to send periodic reports. Good luck.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Thank you.”

As the leader of the first team, Rachel went east with 2 other guild members. They paved through the fierce blizzard for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes… After walking for a long time…

“Wait, what’s that?”

One member pointed into the distance. A sharp, golden object shone in the snow.

“It kind of looks like a… snowmobile.”

“Let’s go. It might be a hidden piece.”

With bright expressions, the two male guild members walked up to the golden object. Rachel had an eerie feeling, but followed after them.

“It’s a snowmobile!”

“Hurry, vice leader!”

The guild members stood in front of the mysterious object and called her over.

“A snowmobile?” Rachel felt excited. It would undoubtedly be one of the best methods of transportation here.

“Yes, I’m certain!”

“Wait, how do we use this?”

“I got it. I’ve driven this befo—”

They couldn’t hold back their excitement and touched the golden snowmobile. Immediately…

“Uk!”

“Huup!”

Pzzt—! A powerful spark shot out. They couldn’t react to the instantaneous current of magic power and fainted on the spot.

“Re… Refel! David!”

***

“Dwarven supercar?” Jain tilted her head in a jungle cave that served as our temporary base.

“Yes, there’s an artifact by that name that you can’t normally touch.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Ah, well, you’ve seen it too, right? The administrator was reading a book.”

“Huh?”

The administrator of the 2nd floor sat under a tree and began to read a book the moment he finished his explanation. Being kind and social, Kim Suho would provide Luke with some company before setting off. He would then spot the book in Luke’s hands and ask about it. Luke would smile meaningfully and give the book to Kim Suho.

“I sneaked a peek. The elevators and the supercar are both artifacts left behind by dwarves.”

“Ah, so that’s why you were late? What does this supercar look like?”

“It should look like a snowmobile.”

This floor contained several hidden pieces considered dwarven artifacts. I wanted to find all the hidden steles and the supercar on the 2nd floor.

“So things will get easier if we find it?”

“Yes, it’ll be helpful on other floors as well.”

The Tower of Wish mainly used horses for transportation. However, low level horses couldn’t be used in battle. Famous steeds like the Red Hare, Bucephalus, and the slightly lesser Reckless could, but would be difficult to obtain.

“Do you know where to look?”

“No, but I’m confident I can find it with my eyes.”

The 2nd floor should have 3 dwarven supercars. I planned to give Kim Suho a map of the 2nd floor, so there should be no problem if I took one.

Koong. Koong.

Huge footsteps rang out from outside. I glanced sideways and saw Cheok Jungyeong return from hunting. As always, injuries riddled his body. However, they looked even worse today. A huge cut on his side revealed his ribs and something seemed to have bitten off a part of his calf.

“… Off doing weird things again?”

Jain remarked as she shook her head. Cheok Jungyeong received it with a big grin.

“I tasted ecstasy inside the boundary between life and death.”

“So… where’s the corpse?”

“…”

However, he didn’t reply.

“You didn’t bring it again? You should have brought it back if you could.”

I grumbled as I handed him a potion I had made with herbs from the player shop. It was only Lv.0 since I didn’t have a proper recipe, but would be better than nothing.

“Cough.”

Cheok Jungyeong took the potion as he scratched the back of his neck.

“Where is it? I’ll go bring it back.”

“It’s not that far. Keep going straight and you’ll see it.”

He gulped down the potion and immediately passed out on the ground.

“Eat, fight, sleep, eat, fight, sleep… What is he if not a beast?”

“Jain, take care of the food. You just have to cook it.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.”

I left the cooking to Jain and went outside.

“Hm? Where are you going?”

I ran into Boss, who also just returned.

“Cheok Jungyeong left a monster corpse behind so I’m going to fetch it.”

“Then let’s go together. You’ll need someone to guard you.”

“Thanks.”

Boss and I began walking forward. After about 15 minutes, we discovered traces of a fierce battle. A huge area in the jungle had caved in with crushed trees and a huge monster lay lifelessly in the middle.

“He killed a Lv.3 grizzly bear?”

Was that even possible bare-handed? Once again, Cheok Jungyeong’s strength awed me. KOONG! I chopped off the bear’s head and began to dismantle it.

“Hm?”

[Lv.3 Grizzly Bear’s Head] Lv.3 Durability, Lv.1 Air Purifier, Lv.3 Face Protection, Lv.-1 Hygiene

The bear’s head could be used as a helmet without any refinement. If treated correctly, it could become valuable equipment. I cleaned the inside with stigma’s magic power and the Lv.-1 Hygiene disappeared. Then I placed it aside.

I guess I could make a helmet and gift it to Cheok Jungyeong.

I went back to dismantling the bear.

“Mmm.”

Then I heard a satisfied murmur and briefly glanced to the side before returning to the bear. However, I immediately glanced to the side again.

“Um, Boss?”

“It looks a bit weird, but feels fantastic.”

Boss wore the bear head with her face peeking out from the bear’s mouth. She looked happy like a child.

“Look, newbie. It defends my entire face if I close the mouth.”

“…”

Boss closed the bear’s mouth and I silently stared at the girl wearing a bear mask in front of me.

— Isn’t it cool? Huhu.

A satisfied voice rang out from the bear’s mouth.